Unfrozen Atom
// A breakthrough teethed in North Korea’s nuclear disarmament
A new round of the six-sided talks on North Korea’s nuclear issue began in Beijing yesterday. This round might become the decisive one. The U.S. had agreed to completely unfreeze North Korea’s accounts in Chinese bank Delta Asia in Macau. Thus, the chief obstacle for North Korea’s nuclear disarmament was removed. Yet, a new problem arose in the talks, -- the mutual claims of Tokyo and Pyongyang.
Before the very beginning of yesterday’s session of the sixth round of talks on North Korea’s nuclear issue in Beijing, U.S. Treasury Department's Deputy Assistant Secretary Daniel Glaser told journalists that “North Korea and the U.S. reached agreement on North Korea’s accounts in Delta Asia bank in Macau”. The official said that the $25 million belonging to Pyongyang will be transferred from Delta Asia to a special account opened by North Korean authorities in Beijing’s branch of the Bank of China, and then will be spent on implementing social projects in North Korea.
Thus, the chief obstacle for the six-sided talks was removed. It appeared in late 2005, when Washington accused Delta Asia of helping Pyongyang to launder the money gained by counterfeiting dollars, smuggling and selling weapons. U.S. Treasury Department then forced the Chinese authorities in Macau to freeze all North Korean accounts, and began its own investigation. Indignant Pyongyang immediately left the six-sided talks, and announced the unfreezing of Delta Asia accounts as the main condition for curtailing its nuclear program.
Disputes between North Korea and the U.S. went on for almost 1.5 years, and the crisis exacerbated when Pyongyang tested a nuclear bomb for the first time, in October 2006. At last, the solution was found in Beijing on February 13: the U.S. promised to unfreeze Delta Asia accounts, while Pyongyang promised to surrender its nuclear reactor in Yonben under the IAEA’a control and to begin curtailing its nuclear program. For giving up its atomic ambitions, North Korea chaffered almost 1 million of metric tons of oil annually, beside the above-mentioned $25 million.
However, head of North Korea’s delegation Kim Gye Gwan said that Pyongyang will go by the rule “word for word, act for act”. That is, observers think, Kim Gye Gwan made it clear that Pyongyang will believe in the sincerity of U.S. statements (and thus to stop the reactor) only after its money is actually liberated. South Korea’s national intelligence confirmed it yesterday by saying that the nuclear reactor in Yonben keeps working, and there are no signs of preparation to stop the reactor.
Nonetheless, when opening yesterday’s session, head of Chinese delegation Wu Dawei said that during the current round of talks, the participants will “discuss specific measures for turning the Korean peninsula into a non-nuclear zone”. Besides, there appeared information that the negotiators have already named a possible date of the meeting between foreign ministers: late April – early May.
Yet, a couple of hours after the talks behind closed doors had begun, alarming information came. A new difficulty arose: a dispute between North Korea and Japan. Kim Gye Gwan said that “Japan should carry out its obligations, otherwise North Korea will raise the question of excluding it from the talks”.
The issue of the Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korean special services in the 1970s and 1980s became the stumbling block once again. In early March, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that Tokyo will not help North Korea until Pyongyang returns the kidnapped citizens or provides the irrefutable proof of their death. Tokyo-Pyongyang dispute might seriously hamper the progress of the six-sided negotiations.
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso suggested making an unexpected step yesterday. He said that Moscow can help improve the relations between Tokyo and Pyongyang. Aso hinted that Russian diplomats could have persuaded North Korean authorities to make concessions to Japan, while Tokyo could have helped Moscow solve the problem of North Korea’s debt to Russia, which is over $8 billion. However, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov, who represents Moscow in the six-sided talks, refuted this suggestion right away, saying that “Russia cannot impose anything on anyone”.
Alexander Gabuev; Kirill Odintsov, Beijing
All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 20, 2007
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